ISSF World Cup: Saurabh Chaudhary clinches bronze

Asian Games gold medallist Saurabh Chaudhary lifted the sagging spirit of the Indian camp by winning the air pistol bronze in the shooting World Cup.

File picture of Saurabh Chaudhary.

Asian Games gold medallist Saurabh Chaudhary lifted the sagging spirit of the Indian camp by winning the air pistol bronze in the shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, on Thursday. Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Manu Bhaker made the women’s air pistol final, but made early exit as well. Yashaswini and Manu had shot modest scores of 578 and 577 respectively in making the final, but the 8s and 9s saw them bow out quickly.

In fact, it was the trend for the Indian shooters in action on the day, as none of them made the women’s air rifle final.

Two-time World Cup gold medallist and world record holder, Apurvi Chandela had the best performance among the Indians, as she placed 24th with 624.2.

READ: Ahead of Tokyo Olympics, dress rehearsal for Indian shooting team in Croatia

World No.1 Elavenil Valarivan had a protest in the sixth series and had two points taken away, which saw her plunge to the 55th spot with a total of 621.2.

In men’s air rifle, there was a better fare as the young Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar made the final with a total of 628.0 and placed seventh eventually. He will be competing in the rifle 3-position event in the Olympics.

In men’s skeet, the lone Indian entrant, Gurjoat Khangura had shot 70 out of 75, following rounds of 24, 23, 23 and found himself 52nd in a field of 73 shooters.

THE RESULTS10m air pistol 1. Javad Foroughi (Iri) 243.0 (584); 2. Damir Mikec (Srb) 241.7 (584); 3. Saurabh Chaudhary 220.0 (581); 5. Abhishek Verma 179.3 (581). 10m air rifle: 1. William Shaner (US) 250.5 (628.3); 2. Vladimir Maslennikov (Rus) 249.2 (630.5); 3. Petar Gorsa (Cro) 227.7 (631.9); 7. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 143.9 (628.0); 14. Deepak Kumar 626.0; 25. Divyansh Singh Panwar 624.7. Women 10m air pistol: 1. Antoaneta Kostadinova (Bul) 240.0 (579); 2. Carina Wimmer (Ger) 237.5 (574); 3. Yulia Korostylova (Ukr) 216.8 (575); 7. Manu Bhaker 137.3 (577); 8. Yashaswini Singh Deswal 117.1 (578); 13. Rahi Sarnobat 572. 10m air rifle: 1. Eszter Meszaros (Hun) 250.6 (628.3); 2. Ziva Dvorsak (Slo) 249.8 (628.4); 3. Sofia Ceccarello (Ita) 226.6 (629.2); 24. Apurvi Chandela 624.2; 42. Anjum Moudgil 622.3; 55. Elavenil Valarivan 621.2.